A. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the electronic stimulation of plant development. More particularly, it relates to the stimulation of plant development through electrifying the environment in and around a plant or part of a plant using an electrical field, preferably a pulsed field. The present invention also relates to an electronic method of stimulating the active membrane transport systems of growing plants and harvested plant products in order to promote growth and extend the shelf life. The invention is of particular interest as it relates to shipment and marketing of cut flowers, greens and trees and more particularly to methods, products of methods and devices for handling, shipping, marketing and enjoyment of cut flowers.
B. Description of the Related Art
For the past forty years there has been a steady growth of the consumer horticultural industry in the United States and its growth continues to out pace all other major farm sectors. Overall, the industry had an estimated 44 billion dollars in 1992 sales. Potted foliage plants, cut flowers, potted flowering plants, bedding plants and cut live trees represented an estimated 6.7 billion of this figure up from 4.4 billion in 1989 at a growth rate averaging 3-5 percent per year. In this highly competitive marketplace, premiums are placed on freshness of the product.
This industry consists of thousands of growers and retailers and in recent years, foreign imports have dramatically increased the competition in the industry. Growers and retailers are faced with ever increasing demands to produce and market quality products at reasonable prices.
The highly competitive market place has forced both grower and retailer to incorporate technological advances into their business in order to maintain competitiveness. Most of the technological developments in the industry have been production oriented and have offered few advances for the retailer. These technological advances for the most part have been limited to the commercial portion of the industry and have not been available to the consumer public.